Waitaki electorate boundaries used since the
Waitaki is an electorate for the
New Zealand House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. The House passes Law of New Zealand, laws, provides Ministers of the New Zealand Government, ministers to form Cabinet of New Zealand, Cabinet, and supervises the ...
that crosses the boundary of
North Otago
North Otago in New Zealand covers the area of Otago between Shag Point and the Waitaki River, and extends inland to the west as far as the village of Omarama (which has experienced rapid growth as a developing centre for astronomy and for glid ...
and
South Canterbury towns on the East Coast of the
South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
. The electorate was first established for the that determined the
5th New Zealand Parliament
The fifth New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament.
Elections for this term were held in 68 European electorates between 14 January and 23 February 1871. Elections in the four Māori electorates were held on 1 and 15 Janu ...
. It has been abolished and re-established several times and in its early years was a two-member electorate for two parliamentary terms. The current electorate has existed since the and is held by
Jacqui Dean
Jacqueline Isobel Dean (née Hay, born 13 May 1957) is a New Zealand politician and the current Member of Parliament for the Waitaki electorate, where she represents the National Party.
Early career
Dean was born in Palmerston North. She has ...
of the
National Party.
Population centres
Through an amendment in the Electoral Act in 1965, the number of electorates in the
South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
was fixed at 25, an increase of one since the 1962 electoral redistribution. It was accepted that through the more rapid population growth in the
North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...
, the number of its electorates would continue to increase, and to keep proportionality, three new electorates were allowed for in the 1967 electoral redistribution for the next election. In the North Island, five electorates were newly created and one electorate was reconstituted while three electorates were abolished. In the South Island, three electorates were newly created and one electorate was reconstituted while three electorates were abolished (including Waitaki). The overall effect of the required changes was highly disruptive to existing electorates, with all but three electorates having their boundaries altered. These changes came into effect with the .
This current Waitaki electorate is the successor to parts of the old
Otago electorate, with parts of central Otago moving into
Clutha-Southland, and the boundary extended far up the South Canterbury coast, to just outside
Timaru. The electorate was last re-established for the
2008 election
This electoral calendar 2008 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2008 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, even though they are not elections. By-elections are no ...
. The
2006 census
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number.
In mathematics
Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...
showed that there has been a general northwards population movement. Even though the number of South Island electorates is fixed, the decline in the population of electorates from
Rakaia south has resulted in the boundaries of electorates from
Invercargill
Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...
north to Rakaia shifting northwards. However, Waitaki ended up over quota in the
2013 census and redistribution resulted in all communities south of and including
Herbert
Herbert may refer to:
People Individuals
* Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert
Name
* Herbert (given name)
* Herbert (surname)
Places Antarctica
* Herbert Mountains, Coats Land
* Herbert Sound, Graham Land
Australia
* Herbert, ...
being ceded to
Dunedin North
Dunedin North, also known as North Dunedin, is a major inner suburb
''Inner suburb'' is a term used for a variety of suburban communities that are generally located very close to the centre of a large city (the inner city and central bus ...
. Waitaki contracted again in the 2020 redistribution, gaining the
Waitati
Waitati, from the Māori Waitete, is a small seaside settlement in Otago, New Zealand, within the city limits of Dunedin. It is located close to the tidal mudflats of Blueskin Bay, 19 kilometres north of the Dunedin city centre. The small Waitati ...
area from , but losing a large section of land around Alexandra to .
The largest town in the electorate is
Oamaru
Oamaru (; mi, Te Oha-a-Maru) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the railway ...
(pop. ). Other towns include
Geraldine
Geraldine may refer to:
People
* Geraldine (name), the feminine form of the first name Gerald, with list of people thus named.
* The Geraldines, Irish dynasty descended from the Anglo-Norman Gerald FitzWalter de Windsor
* Geraldine of Albania, th ...
(),
Twizel (),
Wanaka (),
Waimate () and
Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...
()
History
The Waitaki electorate has existed four times: in
1871
Events January–March
* January 3 – Franco-Prussian War – Battle of Bapaume: Prussians win a strategic victory.
* January 18 – Proclamation of the German Empire: The member states of the North German Confederation and the sout ...
to
1946
Events January
* January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held.
* January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...
; in
1957
1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...
to
1969
This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon.
Events January
* January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco.
* January 5
**Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
; in
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
to
1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
and lastly since .
The first election in the electorate was contested by
William Steward and Macassey in , with Steward being successful.
The next election was held in early January 1876. Waitaki had become a two-member electorate, and four candidates put their names forward. Steward and Joseph O'Meagher contested the election as abolitionists (i.e. they were in favour of abolishing the
provincial government), while
Thomas William Hislop
Thomas William Hislop (8 April 1850 – 2 October 1925) was the Mayor of Wellington from 1905 to 1908, and had represented two South Island electorates in the New Zealand Parliament.
Early life
He was born in Kirknewton, West Lothian in 1850. ...
and
Samuel Shrimski
Samuel Edward Shrimski (1828 – 25 June 1902) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament and then a Member of the Legislative Council from Otago, New Zealand.
Early life
He was born in Poznań, Prussia, where he received his initial education. He ...
were provincialists (i.e. they favoured the retention of provincial government). The provincialists won the election by quite some margin.
Hislop and Shrimski were both confirmed in the , but Hislop resigned on 28 April 1880 "for private reasons". The resulting was won by
George Jones.
From 1881 onwards, the electorate became a single-member constituency again.
Thomas Young Duncan
Thomas Young Duncan (1836 – 18 August 1914), sometimes referred to as "Tam Duncan", was a New Zealand politician of the Liberal Party.
Early life
Born at Plumbridge, County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1836, Duncan was educated at Castledamph National ...
won the and the two subsequent elections. In the , Duncan was opposed by John Reid, but defeated him by 705 to 676 votes. In the , Duncan successfully contested the
Oamaru electorate instead, with
John McKenzie taking Waitaki. McKenzie had previously held
Waihemo and went back to that electorate again for the .
William Steward, who was the first representative of the electorate, had since 1881 represented
Waimate. He returned to Waitaki for the 1893 election, was successful and also won the five subsequent elections. He held the electorate until 1911. He was appointed to the
Legislative Council in the following year, but died within months of the appointment.
Francis Henry Smith
Francis Henry Smith (1868 – 17 August 1936) was a Reform Party Member of Parliament in New Zealand.
Smith was born in 1868 at Long Bay near Strahan, Tasmania. He came to New Zealand with his parents and obtained his education at schools in ...
succeeded Steward in the . At the next election in , Smith stood unsuccessfully in the
Timaru electorate. The Waitaki electorate was won by
John Anstey
John Anstey JP (1856 – 28 August 1940) was a farmer from South Canterbury in New Zealand. He was first a member of the Legislative Council and then a Member of Parliament, representing the Liberal Party.
Early life
Anstey was born in Devon ...
that year. At the , Anstey was defeated by
John Bitchener
John Bitchener (1864 – 10 March 1952) was a Reform Party Member of Parliament in New Zealand. He was a cabinet minister from 1933 to 1935 in the Reform Government of New Zealand.
Early life
Bitchener was born in 1864 in Stagsden, Bedfordsh ...
, who held Waitaki until he was defeated in the by
David Barnes. Barnes, in turn, held the electorate for one parliamentary term and was defeated in the by
David Campbell Kidd. At the final count, Kidd had a majority of 10 votes, and Barnes applied for a magisterial recount; this increased the 1938 result to a majority of 14 votes. Kidd represented Waitaki until 1946, when the electorate was abolished and he successfully stood in
Waimate instead.
Waitaki was re-established for the and was won by
Thomas Hayman, who had previously represented
Oamaru
Oamaru (; mi, Te Oha-a-Maru) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the railway ...
. Hayman died in office on 2 January 1962 and was succeeded by
Allan Dick, who won the
1962 by-election. Dick held the electorate until 1969, when it was abolished again.
The electorate was re-established for the
1978 general election.
Jonathan Elworthy
Jonathan Herbert Elworthy (1 July 1936 – 17 June 2005) was a New Zealand Member of parliament, Member of Parliament for Oamaru (New Zealand electorate), Oamaru and Waitaki (New Zealand electorate), Waitaki, in the South Island, representing the ...
of the
National Party was the successful candidate. Elworthy was re-elected in the
1981 general election, but defeated in the
1984 general election by
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
's
Jim Sutton
James Robert Sutton (born 7 November 1941), generally known as Jim Sutton, is a New Zealand politician who was a Member of Parliament between 1984 and 1990 and again between 1993 and 2006. He has held a range of ministerial portfolios including ...
. Sutton was re-elected in the
1987 general election, but lost to National's
Alec Neill
Alexander George Neill (born 22 July 1950 in Dunedin, New Zealand) is a former New Zealand politician. He was a Member of Parliament for the National Party on three non-consecutive occasions between 1990 and 2002 and was later a member of the ...
in the
1990 general election. Neill was re-elected in the
1993 general election. At the end of the next term, in 1996, the electorate was abolished again. Neill failed to be selected by the National Party as a candidate for any of the electorates for the
1996 general election
The following elections occurred in the year 1996.
* 1995–1996 Azerbaijani parliamentary election
* 1996 Beninese presidential election
* 1996 Comorian presidential election
* 1996 New Zealand general election
* 1996 Nicaraguan general election ...
.
With the advent of
Mixed-member proportional representation
Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP or MMPR) is a mixed electoral system in which votes cast are considered in local elections and also to determine overall party vote tallies, which are used to allocate additional members to produce ...
(MMP) voting system in 1996 and the resulting reduction in the number of constituencies, the electorate was split in half; the town of
Oamaru
Oamaru (; mi, Te Oha-a-Maru) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the railway ...
was pulled into the resized
Otago
Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...
electorate and the balance was transferred into the new
Aoraki electorate.
The Waitaki electorate was re-established for the , and
Jacqui Dean
Jacqueline Isobel Dean (née Hay, born 13 May 1957) is a New Zealand politician and the current Member of Parliament for the Waitaki electorate, where she represents the National Party.
Early career
Dean was born in Palmerston North. She has ...
, incumbent since the in the electorate won the election with a large majority against Labour's
David Parker. Dean increased her majority in the against Labour's Barry Monks. Dean was confirmed as the electorate's representative in the .
Members of Parliament
Key
Single-member electorate
Multi-member electorate
Single-member electorate
List MPs
Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Waitaki electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections.
Election results
2020 election
2017 election
2014 election
2011 election
Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 49,508
2008 election
1987 election
1984 election
1981 election
1978 election
1966 election
1963 election
1962 by-election
1960 election
1957 election
1931 election
1928 election
1899 election
1896 election
1890 election
Footnotes
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waitaki (New Zealand Electorate)
Politics of Canterbury, New Zealand
New Zealand electorates
Politics of Otago
1870 establishments in New Zealand
1946 disestablishments in New Zealand
1969 disestablishments in New Zealand
1996 disestablishments in New Zealand
1957 establishments in New Zealand
1978 establishments in New Zealand
2008 establishments in New Zealand